Pocono: GM teams race quotes

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT MONTE CARLO SS - Crashed on lap 190:
ARE YOU OKAY?
"I don't know how, but yes, I am. I've either got a really hard head or
those guys at Hendrick Motorsports just build an awesome race car because
that was one of the...

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT MONTE CARLO SS - Crashed on lap 190:

ARE YOU OKAY?
"I don't know how, but yes, I am. I've either got a really hard head or
those guys at Hendrick Motorsports just build an awesome race car because
that was one of the hardest hits I've ever taken. I think we broke a
right front brake rotor going into (Turn) 1. That's probably the worst
thing you could ever ask for in a race car is to have the brakes go out
going into Turn 1 at Pocono. Between the soft walls and the seat and
every safety device we had in there, I never got knocked out. I was
surprisingly feeling pretty good other than just a bit of a headache.
They (infield medical staff) just wanted to watch me in there for a
little bit, but I'm fine.

"It's unfortunate. We lost track position. I had a pretty good car at the
beginning but lost track position and couldn't get it back."

***

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CINGULAR WIRELESS MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 9th:

ON THE RACE:
"It was really disappointing. I don't know. I was speeding or they
wouldn't have called me for speeding. I just don't understand how I was
speeding and I need to understand. Actually, we were about 100 rpm lower
than what we thought we could be because I knew that nobody behind us was
pushing and I knew we couldn't catch anybody. So I'm just a little
confused about it but I'll get with NASCAR and let them walk me though it
and learn from it. It was disappointing.

"These guys did a great job. The engine was great. The engine was
unbelievable. The car was good. We didn't have anything for (race winner,
Denny) Hamlin. But for everybody else, I thought we were right there with
them. We had a second or third place car and finished ninth with it. But
we'll keep fighting."

ON THE ISSUE OF SPEEDING:
"It's interesting that a lot of people got caught. Like I said, if I had
it to do all over again, I wouldn't have done anything different. That's
what's confusing to me. Normally when I make a mistake, it's real clear
to me. But this one's not clear to me. But again, I know they made the
right call. We've just got to figure out what we did wrong."

***

BRIAN VICKERS, NO. 25 GMAC MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 4th:

EVEN AFTER YOUR ANNOUNCEMENT FRIDAY YOU GUYS DIDN'T MISS A BEAT
"These guys just rallied this weekend. They did a good job overcoming a
lot of stuff that was on top of them this weekend. I'm real proud of
them. I think it just goes back to the bottom line, like I said Friday
morning. I'm still 100 percent committed to this team as long as I'm here
and Hendrick Motorsports. All this guys on the team said they are behind
me as long as I'm here. We proved that this weekend."

WHAT FUELED THIS PERFORMANCE?
"The decision that was made based on years of past experience, not just
one race. The fact remains I am proud of these guys. They rallied. This
has always been a good track for us, a good track for the No. 25 car."

ON THE FINAL RESTART
"We were a little tight going into that final restart. We needed that
caution and that red flag to let our tires cool down. Me and Matt
(Kenseth) had a heck of a battle there. We had a lot of fun."

TALK ABOUT THE SPEEDING PENALTY:
"The speeding penalty hurt us. On the restart with five to go we were
right there with the guys. If we had car to win the race, we would have
passed them then. I'm not going to sit here and say it cost us the race,
but it certainly didn't help. Coming to the end of pit road, my spotter
was like, 'Go, go, go' and my reaction, you know you hear that voice in
your head and you just hit the gas and it cost us the speeding penalty.
But I want to go on record and say that is still my responsibility. It
doesn't matter if I have someone screaming in my ear 'Go, go, go' or not,
it's my responsibility. I'm the one behind the wheel."

***

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 10th

ON THE DAY:
"We had another tough day but the guys did a great job and just like last
week we never gave up. We did what we needed to do and we were able to
get a top 10 out of the day."

***

TONY RAINES, NO. 96 DLP HDTV MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 16th:

ON THE RACE:
"It was a decent day. I struggled with the car all day. We had one long
green flag run there, where we were pretty good. We were just tight all
day. Real tight in traffic and real tight by ourselves. I don't know if
that's the body we want to run here (in July) or not. We got it a little
better on a few of the stops, we just never got it completely the way we
needed it. But, the way the car ran, I'll take 16th."

***

TRAVIS KVAPIL, NO. 32 TIDE MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 19th:

"Today was a really good day for us considering how much we struggled
yesterday. I would never have thought a 19th place finish was possible
but we hung in there and the changes me made throughout the race really
helped. Track bar did the trick. Gary and the guys worked so hard and
it paid off. The car started out bad but turned into something very
respectable. We really thought today would be a test session to prepare
for the July race but it turned out to be even better. I'm really happy
for everyone on the Tide team.